Then the LORD sent ^aNathan to David. And ^bhe came to him and ¹said,“There were two men in a city, the one wealthy and the other poor.

5 Then David’s anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the LORD lives, the man who has done this certainly ^1adeserves to die! 6 So he must make restitution for the lamb ^afour times over, since he did this thing and ¹had no compassion.”

7 Nathan then said to David, “^aYou yourself are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: ‘^bIt is I who anointed you as king over Israel, and it is I who rescued you from the hand of Saul. 8 I also gave you ^ayour master’s house and put your master’s wives ¹into your care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you ²many more things like these! 9 Why ^ahave you despised the word of the LORD, by doing evil in His sight? ^bYou have struck and killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, you ^chave taken his wife as your wife, and you have slaughtered him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. 10 Now then, ^athe sword shall never leave your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 11 This is what the LORD says: ‘Behold, I am going to raise up evil against you from your own household; ^aI will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will sleep with your wives in ¹broad daylight. 12 Indeed, ^ayou did it secretly, but ^bI will do this thing before all Israel, and ¹in open daylight.’” 13 Then David said to Nathan, “^aI have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has ^ballowed your sin to pass; you shall not die. 14 However, since by this deed you have ^ashown utter disrespect for the ¹LORD, the child himself who is born to you shall certainly die.” 15 Then Nathan went to his house.Loss of a Child

Later the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s ¹widow bore to David, so that he was very sick. 16 David therefore pleaded with God for the child; and David ^afasted and went and ^blay all night on the ground. 17 ^aThe elders of his household stood beside him in order to help him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat food with them. 18 Then it happened on the seventh day that the child died. And David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was still alive, we spoke to him and he did not listen to ¹us. How then can we tell him that the child is dead, since he might do himself harm?” 19 But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David perceived that the child was dead; so David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” And they said, “He is dead.” 20 So David got up from the ground, ^awashed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the LORD and ^bworshiped. Then he went to his own house, and when he asked, they served him food, and he ate.

21 Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was ¹alive; but when the child died, you got up and ate food.” 22 And he said, “While the child was still alive, ^aI fasted and wept; for I said, ‘^bWho knows, the LORD may be gracious to me, and the child may live.’ 23 But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? ^aI am going to him, but ^bhe will not return to me.”

24 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and went in to her and slept with her; and she gave birth to a son, and ^1ahe named him Solomon. Now the LORD loved him, 25 and sent word through Nathan the prophet, and he named him ¹Jedidiah for the LORD’S sake.

26 ^aNow Joab fought against ^bRabbah of the sons of Ammon, and captured the royal city. 27 Then Joab sent messengers to David and said, “I have fought against Rabbah, I have even captured the city of waters. 28 Now then, gather the rest of the people and camp opposite the city and capture it, or I will capture the city myself and it will be named after me.” 29 So David gathered all the people and went to Rabbah, and he fought against it and captured it. 30 Then ^ahe took the crown of ¹their king from his head; and its weight was a ²talent of gold, and it had a precious stone; and it was placed on David’s head. And he brought out the plunder of the city in great amounts. 31 He also brought out the people who were in it, and ^aput some to work at saws, iron picks, and iron axes, and made ¹others ²serve at the brick ³works. And he did the same to all the cities of the sons of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.